Li YM 2003.

Methods	Generation of allocation sequence: unstated. Blinding: not used. Sample size estimation: no information. Withdrawal/drop‐out: eight from herb group and six from control group lost follow‐up.
Participants	Ethnic: Chinese; 58 patients (29 in herb group and 29 in control group, no data on gender and age). Setting: inpatients. Inclusion criteria: type 2 diabetes mellitus diagnosis criteria not defined. Exclusion criteria: unstated.
Interventions	Experimental intervention: Tangzhi Xiao (mixture of more than 8 herbs) capsule, 10 capsules, t.i.d., orally; for three months. Control intervention: gliclazide, 80 mg orally, b.i.d.; for three months.
Outcomes	Symptoms, FBG, FINS, ISI, blood pressure, SGPT, BUN, creatinine, and adverse reaction. Outcomes were measured at end of treatment.
Notes	Eight and six patients were excluded from herb and control groups respectively due to poor compliance.
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Allocation concealment?	Unclear risk	B ‐ Unclear